This invention relates to optical fibre cables, and in particular to such cables for submarine use.
A recently discovered problem with optical cables, and particularly submarine optical cables, is that of hydrogen evolution. Over an extended period of time small quantities of hydrogen are, in some circumstances, released from the cable sheathing material. If this hydrogen comes into contact with the silica fibre cores it can diffuse in to form hydroxyl groups. The presence of such groups in an optical fibre is well known to have a deleterious effect on the optical transmission properties of the fibre material.